Between the South Street Seaport’s hosting of the River to River Festival and the Sidewalk Cafe’s penchant for hosting tight, energetic, up-and-comers, free music was covered Friday July 23, with a night of lo-fi silliness, stridently popping youth-rock and R&B showmanship. 20 Watts was able to check out shows from two venues and four bands on Friday: Loose Limbs, Best Coast, Free Energy and Syracuse natives The Fly. READ FULL REVIEW HEREContinue reading →

The Grog Shop is a legendary Ohio venue that’s served Cleveland Heights for over a decade. One month ago 20 Watts decided to commission a short documentary on it.

Venues like the Grog Shop always have great history attached to them — a history of intrinsic connection with the music we hear in them. Think back to the best concerts you’ve been to and think about why they were great. Sure the band was awesome, but apart from the live performance and its smoke and mirrors, what will make the experience memorable? Venues owe a debt to the musicians who play in them just as bloggers and journalists do. Their job is to enhance the experience of the fans beyond what the band can pull off.

To Coney Island’s ever-looming gentrification and eventual decline in cool, the Village Voice’s yearly Siren Fest is a welcome spit to the eye, and 2010 was no different. Upon arriving to the festivities a bit late and taking a gander at the stacked lineup, we decided to hit Continue reading →

90-degree beach weather, Nathan’s hot dogs and free music all factor into a day that I’ve looked forward to for years. It’s not the 4th of July. This day comes two weeks later. The stage that’s previously hosted indie rock legends like Broken Social Scene in 2008 and Built to Spill in 2009 will be sporting sunny indie-poppers Matt and Kim and neo-punks Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.

As always, the Siren lineup is neatly stacked — this year featuring a nice mix of up-and-coming blog-buzzers like Screaming Females and Wye Oak alongside last-summer favorites like Matt & Kim and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. In an inspired bit of scheduling, the Pains, lo-fi surf-rockers Surfer Blood and Matt & Kim will play before both the aforementioned acts on the same main stage. All of their music and live shows are energetic and fun, which bodes well for a day in the Coney Island sun.

Meanwhile the Stillwell Stage will be hosting bands arguably just as cool. Holy Fuck, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Harlem, Ponytail and Apache Beat are set to rock Stillwell, making the ever-present choice of what stage to hit when that much more difficult. The full hourly breakdown was released yesterday in anticipation of the show this Saturday, July 17. 20 Watts will be on-scene for the day and will be covering the day’s shenanigans when we aren’t taking part in them ourselves. Check out some previous free concert coverage this summer and the last time we covered Siren!

Summer spirits soar when the entertainment’s free and the entertainment strive to be indie rock legends. Such was the case this past weekend at Governor’s Island when Delicate Steve, Keepaway and headliner Yeasayer took the Converse stage as part of the Converse-sponsored, mostly free “Gone to Governors” series.

“This must be the most remixed song ever,” Yeasayer frontman Chris Keating said before the group launched into a charged rendition of their signature song “O.N.E.” The crowd responded by blowing up with pop-and-locks, cheers and continuing to toss around a beach ball that had previously hit Keating in the face.

Part of our Issue 22 coverage!PREVIEW: Click on the links below to learn more about these albums and access music from Broken Social Scene

When defining Broken Social Scene, only three words really do justice: indie rock pioneers. In the past decade, the 15+-member band has almost single-handedly reshaped the indie rock scene through their innovative yet extremely accessible music. After only three LP’s and a handful of EP’s and side albums, Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and the gang are finally releasing their fourth full-length album five years after their last record, Broken Social Scene. Although the new album, Forgiveness Rock Record Continue reading →